Nibbles

Nibbles: Pretty, Peak soil, Wine history, Ancient foodways, Offal, Durian, Exotic plant foods, Cassava, Mozzarella, Nutrition report, Superfoods

Jules Pretty meditates on the impermanence of things.
Like soil. And bumblebees.
Ah, well, let’s not get maudlin. Pass the bottle. Well looky here. The French got wine from the Italians. I feel better already.
And Canadians had clam gardens a thousand years ago. Probably still do, actually.
Along with offal, no doubt. Which did not, however, seem to play any role in a recent Mesolithic dinner. Though French wine did. Which is weird.
The best fruit in the world gets the Kew treatment.
And is included in a weird list of the 100 weirdest food plants.
Cassava‘s pretty weird too.
The best cheese in the world is not French either.
All of which foods no doubt feature in FAO’s new report on nutrition. Which is really important, so don’t let the flippancy fool ya. The Lancet agrees. And you can do your bit too.
Ah, but does quinoa feature in that FAO report? The backlash continues…

Will the world ever tire of hot pepper stories?
Would you like to work at the Millennium Seed Bank?
The Guardian hymns Howard-Yana Shapiro, the “vegan hippy scientist” who wants to open orphan crop genomes.
Patrick links to Arche Noah’s response to the new EU seed laws.
Laws that don’t bother Gene Logsdon, planter of old seed.
IRRI claims that rice seed aids Bangladesh’s cyclone recovery, but frankly, I can barely read it.

The Australians have turned the sod on a new genebank. Can’t have too many genebanks.
Climate change model reveals the differences between coffee and mango. Can’t have too many models. Or mangoes.
GMO tomato that is not GMO and is purple could result in healthier, cheaper tomatoes. Can’t have too much confusion.
Fantastically interesting infographic on where greenhouse gases come from. Can’t have too many good infographics.
Among which I include Pop Chart Lab’s new taxonomic poster of The Various Varieties of Fruits. Fruit is good for you. And tomato is not a fruit
A late addition: chickpea genome sequenced — twice. Can’t have too many chickpea genomes, as Nigel Chaffey explains.

Kenya goes gung-ho for agrobiodiversity to make better use of scarce water.
Peru enacts Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating by Boys, Girls, and Adolescents to a mixed reception.
Sent to Kazakhstan, a food writer thrills to dietary diversity in Almaty (without once mentioning apples).
Holistic orchard conversion. “Turning an orchard from a lawn with fruit & nut trees in it into a purpose-built meadow with fruit & nut trees in it.”
“Preservation of cultivar purity is a particular challenge for plants that are self-incompatible, and have easily germinating seeds and vigorously spreading rhizomes.” Amen.
You’ve seen The Wire? Now read about The Duncan Street Miracle Garden.

Why blogging has been light this week. And also, which resulted in this. Thirsty work …
Which is why I love our new hosts (see above).
There’s gotta be some of these around here.
I know there’s a lot of these. And I have to say I prefer the beer.
And as for the sort of things this guy made…
I wonder how many crop wild relatives there are around here though.
Or salmon.
Ok, that’s all from here for now, but see you again soon.